Microsoft has had enough of your alt-tabbing ways, and now Edge wants to be your default in-game browser

pcgamer.com:

Microsoft has something important to share with you: «88% of PC players use a browser while gaming to get help, track their progress, or even listen to music or chat with friends.» Absolute scenes. And now, for the crime of forgetting to close Chrome while you play Counter-Strike 2, Redmond has produced a solution: The Edge browser can now pop up within your games.

See, the thing is, alt-tabbing or checking your phone is «taking you out of your game» and Microsoft just won't let that stand: «We believe there’s a better way.» It's announced Edge Game Assist, a bespoke in-game version of Microsoft's browser that integrates with the existing Game Bar on Windows 11 (press WinKey + G).

Game Assist will recognise certain compatible titles and automatically suggest guides and information about them, though players can also use it to manually search. At launch, it has what Microsoft calls «game aware» support for nine titles, including Baldur's Gate 3, League of Legends, and Minecraft.

The big selling point, so to speak, is that Game Assist can be pinned on top of the game you're playing, the idea being that you can follow a guide without having to alt-tab out and check where you are. This window can be re-sized and moved to your preference, and the feature also works with YouTube videos, so you can have one playing away while you go through the game. I mean, if that's your thing.

Game Assist can also be used to bring up the likes of Discord, Spotify and Twitch, and boasts that it integrates all your browser data from Edge: So it shouldn't be asking you to login to things again. There is a short and rather bizarre YouTube video showcasing the feature which is unlisted on the official Microsoft Edge YouTube channel: Subscriber count, 18.3K. Ouch!

Game Assist is available in preview now via Microsoft Edge Beta 132, and the corporation says more compatible games will be added over time (though it can be used with any game as-is, it just won't have custom recommendations).